This article was written by Carl Fleming.

Healthcare leaders are busier than ever, focused on weathering and responding to the worst of COVID-19 and, as things stabilize in their markets, planning for future resiliency.

Coming into 2020, one of the most significant challenges they faced was managing strategic growth during the potential shift from a fee-for-service reimbursement model to value-based payments. Then COVID-19 changed the game and completely disrupted capital spending. Moving forward, the ability to drive hard ROI and benefits from capital expenditures will become even more important and complicated under a system focused on value and the myriad care model changes likely to come in the post-COVID-19 pandemic world.

Two of the largest line items of capital spending belong to technology and facilities (construction), a trend that sees no letting up in the foreseeable future. Interestingly, technology initiatives and construction projects are not always in-sync, which is a problem for organizations that have not yet fully embraced the digital transformation of the care environment.

The resulting disconnects between the digital environment and built environment stymies innovation at scale, leading to less than optimal return on investment.

There are several drivers behind the importance of blending the digital and build environments:

• Regulatory demands of value-based care for reimbursement and quality of care, which are placing an even greater importance on the patient experience and the location in which services are performed. The uptick in telehealth services during the pandemic has cemented the viability and necessity of digital venues for patient care. How healthcare systems will be reimbursed for telehealth and how they deal with HIPAA will be key moving forward.
• Providers closely evaluating capital investments to ensure they create convenience for patients, reduce costs, provide continuity of care, and maintain or improve quality, all of which are critical under a post-pandemic value-based reimbursement.
• Technology demands of consumerism (provider and patient) are placing unfamiliar strains on healthcare organizations, operations and technology infrastructure.
• Consolidation of provider organizations result in a broad mix of technology systems and physical assets, inhibiting standardized care models and eliminating efficiencies required to thrive in a value-based care model.

As we begin to plan for the future, we have to ask: how can we start being smarter about making it all work together? It’s by connecting the dots between system strategy, clinical operations, technology and facilities planning design and construction that we start to see the challenges and opportunities from multiple perspectives. These insights produce a more comprehensive vision and path to succeed in this new value-based paradigm.

As also seen in the recent RX for a Successful Healthcare Project study, engaging the right internal and external partners early and often will reveal insights to maximize efficiencies in workflow, enhance the provider and patient experience and create spaces that allow provider organizations to optimize capital expenditures and thrive in the new paradigm of value-based care.

Three concepts we believe healthcare providers should consider are:

• Build a team and use it – In addition to the management consultants often engaged to guide strategic visioning sessions, healthcare systems should also engage designers and construction managers earlier in the process to provide insight to growth strategies and industry pressures. Viewing these groups as partners instead of commodities provides new perspective with the ability to better align future building initiatives with overall healthcare system goals.
• Get into the details – As healthcare systems expand, we’ve seen situations where aligning IT systems with newly-acquired assets are taken for granted. This leads to more time and money being spent, which erodes the hoped-for return on investment.
• Use data in new ways – We have more systems than ever to support good decision making and, ultimately, day-to-day operations. The entire lifecycle can be made more efficient, from programs like Modelogix used during preconstruction services or VueOps, which takes existing virtual design and construction tools and leverages them as a true asset management suite.

Putting it all together best positions healthcare organizations to realize maximum ROI for both their facility and digital investments. Ultimately, it will help make the patient and provider experience more seamless, as well, fulfilling the vision we share for the next generation of healthcare facilities.

DPR Construction recently celebrated reaching substantial completion on Clemson University’s College of Business. The $87M project, features 24 teaching spaces, a five-story interior atrium, faculty offices, and amenities including a fireplace lounge and La Madeleine Café.

Clemson’s new College of Business is redefining the center of the university’s campus while creating a state-of-the-art think tank environment for the college’s growing student population. The 176,000 sq.-ft. facility’s collaborative, 21^st century design overlooks the famous Tillman Hall clock tower and Bowman Field creating a new center of campus with room for future expansion beyond the business school.

Notably, DPR’s project team was able to hit substantial completion on time while adhering to physical distancing protocols. A new front door to Clemson’s historic campus, the new College of Business will open its doors to students this fall.

Healthcare workers are called to serve a cause greater than themselves. They take care of those who are in need, often working 12-hour days with no breaks. And the mothers among them don’t stop when they clock out. They continue their service once they get home to their families, doing everything from helping kids with remote learning to giving comforting hugs.

This Mother’s Day and National Nurses Week, DPR would like to recognize the family and friends of our employees who are medical professionals and put in long hours both at work and at home. We offer our deepest gratitude to those of you who are always there to comfort us, whether at home or in the patient room, and especially in the midst of the greatest healthcare crisis of the century. We trust you with our lives, and we thank you for your compassion and expertise.

Following are a few testaments about the people we are fortunate to have in our lives:

Since the COVID-19 pandemic started, there has been significant speculation about what the pandemic will mean for workplaces in the future. As certain as it is that changes in workspaces will be the new reality, the fact is that, generally, people like going to the office (and many people miss doing so!) The fast internet connections of office spaces provide a form of digital equity for workers, many of whom have certainly felt the limitations of their internet bandwidth at home. Many businesses that are doing well with keeping operations moving remotely are struggling to replicate the organic interactions of face-to-face contact in offices that help support everything from professional development to camaraderie. While amazing work is happening via video conferencing, there is no replacement for that one-on-one interaction in real time with coworkers.

The return to the office will happen, and when it does, it will look different for every organization. What will be important, though, is making sure offices are set up in ways to minimize further disruptions and optimize the health of their occupants. Through the design and construction approaches, businesses can plan for resiliency in the face of not only this pandemic, but other potentialities that could disrupt business for weeks or months at a time.

“The COVID pandemic has shown businesses where they have some risk exposure and that design and construction solutions can help alleviate those risks,” said Matt Murphy, who acts as DPR Construction’s core markets leader. “It’s clear that offices are not just places people gather, but key business assets, and there are strategies that can be put into place to help ensure those critical assets can always stay online.”

In this series, DPR experts look at ways to build resiliency into commercial spaces as we move through the COVID pandemic and beyond. This segment looks at improvements that can be made to existing spaces. Upcoming installments will examine ways to spread out individuals within a workforce, technology for remote asset management and planning for healthier future spaces.

Making Existing Spaces Work Today

While long-term solutions are needed, in coming weeks, carefully opening existing spaces will be the top priority. Businesses that want to reopen offices are considering everything from bringing groups of workers back in rotations, enhanced cleaning efforts to new ways to use kitchen and amenity spaces as well as office-wide physical distancing measures.

“Workspace utilization at DPR has never really been your standard 'space-centric focused' space planning. We've always been focused on human-centric metrics. Collaboration thrives in open office environments,” says Scott Sass, who acts as DPR’s national special services group (SSG) leader. “This pandemic has allowed us to reimagine the workplace and find new ways to satisfy the needs of our people. We're discussing new ways to enhance already human-focused design strategies that will ensure the highest levels of collaboration and safety in workplaces.”

Temporary safety measures are likely at the start, but customers looking for more permanent solutions will want to make adjustments to existing spaces without disrupting day-to-day operations. DPR’s SSG group and its corps of self-perform workers have some ideas in mind to consider.

“At the beginning of this, there were a lot of articles stating, '‘this is the end of the open-concept offices,’” Sass said. “That’s probably hyperbole. However, there will be a need to evaluate the existing office and determine if changes are necessary. Immediate changes like auto-operators on doors, new antimicrobial hardware and touchless operation kitchen equipment are considerations. There also may be a need to adjust workspace configurations, or add screens for the interim measures.”

Sass added: “One thing all offices should consider is re-commissioning HVAC systems. It’s like doing a tune-up on your car. It will give you the peace of mind that systems are doing what they’re supposed to, and changing the filters regularly is important.”

In other words, it’s the kind of work an SSG group is well positioned to support.

“Doors, hardware, drywall, MEP… this is what we were doing before the pandemic and finding ways to do it in active workspaces,” Sass said. “Delivering that with quality is more about planning. We want to work with individual customers to understand their needs and find ways to install what they need in ways that don’t disrupt their operations at a time when another disruption could be a critical threat to business.”

Sass believes that can mean after-hours work with thorough cleaning afterward, deliberate planning on crew sizes and phasing of work.

“The advantage of having a nimble crew ready to go is that it perfectly aligns with the idea that there isn’t one grand solution out there for everyone,” Sass said. “Every customer is going to have different needs and, through collaboration, we can get them online faster and in ways they can count on moving forward.”

Check www.dpr.com May 18 for the Part 2 of this series.

This is part 2 in a series where DPR experts look at ways to build resiliency into commercial spaces as we move through the COVID pandemic and beyond. Part 1 looked at improvements that can be made to existing spaces. Upcoming installments will examine technology for remote asset management and planning for healthier future spaces. This segment discusses ways to spread out individuals within a workforce.

Once offices come back online, facility leaders will have much to consider in the longer term. For example, physical distancing requirements in offices are almost sure to be a fixture for months to come, if not permanently. Certainly, the ability for any workplace to pivot to a setup that places employees at more physical distance from one another will be needed.

While that’s good practice for disease prevention, other potential disruptions may influence where people are able to go to work.

“Natural disasters have disrupted regions and businesses in the past. Mobility in many communities was an issue prior the pandemic, too. Our nation’s infrastructure is in great need of upgrading. As recent events like Seattle’s bridge closure show, that affects a group of people’s ability to commute reliably," said Matt Mruphy, DPR Construction's core markets leader. "One outcome of this crisis, especially with the knowledge of how effective workers can be remotely, is flexible options for where to come to work.”

With billions of feet of suburban office park space on the market, some businesses may consider repositioning them to match the experience of their more urban office spaces. With technology to connect teams seamlessly, satellite spaces provide more options for workers and give companies an easy way to spread out their workforce to avoid overfilling an office.

“Obviously, this means taking on more real estate, but a lot of larger firms already have this setup,” Murphy said. “It’s more about aligning the office space to provide a unified worker experience.”

Fortunately, there are examples of how suburban real estate doesn’t need to resemble the Office Space stereotype. DPR’s work with Behr Paints on its Newport Beach, CA headquarters, for example, shows that the kind of workspace and amenities that one might expect in a downtown skyscraper is absolutely feasible in the suburbs. Additionally, DPR’s Washington, D.C. and San Diego offices show how inefficient suburban spaces can be renovated to achieve net-zero energy. In fact, many of the strategies leveraged to reposition urban commercial spaces apply to any sort of workplace.

“On a longer horizon, many customers may consider spreading their workforces out simply to ensure that, whatever happens wherever, they can plan on limiting disruption to operations,” Murphy said. “If you’re a company with thousands of square feet of space, the more you can spread those square feet out, the more agile you will be in the face of disease outbreaks, infrastructure disruptions, natural disasters and more.”

Mass timber continues to gain ground as an innovative alternative building material. Engineered for loads similar in strength to structural materials like concrete and steel, mass timber allows crews to build tall, with a lighter, natural, low-carbon and high-quality resource. As its adoption grows, questions inevitably arise about the do’s and don’ts of its deployment.

Embodying its ever forward spirit, DPR Construction has utilized mass timber on a number of projects. As with any new technology, there exists a component of “learning by doing,” and mass timber is no exception. DPR has collected some valuable lessons learned from the people doing the actual work of building mass timber projects, lessons that fall into these categories: Design, Procurement and Operational Considerations.

With the significant benefits mass timber yields in construction, from its strength and resiliency to reduction of carbon footprint, it’s easy to see why adoption is on the rise. The lessons builders learn and share by doing can only make it more successful as a key component of sustainable design and construction.

To view the full infographic click here: Mass Timber Lessons Learned

Manufacturing

Unlike man-made materials such as concrete or steel, different species of wood can yield varying structural capacities. This must be taken into account when spacing grids in building.

Foundations

Depending on soil conditions, mass timber buildings are significantly lighter than an equally designed steel or concrete building. This has the potential to reduce foundation systems, or even eliminate the need for deep foundations. This should be taken into consideration for pricing and schedule benefits.

Collaboration

Project partners might not be familiar with all of the variables associated with mass timber—it’s a relatively new material in the industry. Be sure to engage early and educate each other throughout the process. Some things to consider include:

• Details for anchorage of other systems, depths of beams and interaction with MEP distribution systems.
• Coordination with opening sizes for stairs and elevators, which may be created with hybrid structural systems within an overall mass timber building.

Responsibilities

Outline these clearly before the project starts. Who is responsible for each scope, such as engineering? Procedures for building with mass timber are not as clear cut as those long established for other materials. Make sure you know who is doing what before you start.

Planning

Owners should get involved as soon as possible. If mass timber is on the agenda, engage a timber provider sooner rather than later as the possible engineer of record, before locking in an outside structural engineer of record.

Building Codes

These vary from city to city, and timelines for new code adoption differ. Jurisdictions across the US are modifying local building codes to expand scale and heights of mass timber structures. Make sure you, the design team and the owner understand exactly what’s allowed by local building codes.

Delays

Some areas of the country have experienced 85% growth year over year in mass timber projects. Regions with large numbers of these projects can experience delays in procuring materials.

Material Availability

Ensure material availability before outlining and accepting project schedules. With existing manufacturers spread across the US, Canada and Europe, they are impacted by different holidays, production cycles and backlog. Engage early with potential specified vendors to understand manufacturing capacities.

Production Schedules

Production schedules are important. Fabrication time isn’t lengthy, but getting a slot on a busy schedule can take time.

Project Schedules

Project schedules should be pinned down early on. Discuss actual target date for fabrication clearly and honestly, and include quality inspection and verification of raw materials being used in manufacture. Because fabrication production schedules are tight, missing a fabrication date by a day or two can potentially delay a project exponentially. In addition, erection sequences should be equal to or less than with traditional structural systems.

New Vendors

New vendors arise all the time, and their scopes of work are not standardized or consistent across the board with regard to manufacture, design and installation. It’s important to have a good system for vendor management to mitigate this factor.

Building Processes

Building processes differ for mass timber than from those long established for steel and concrete. Many construction companies are still learning these, and this can affect site logistics and work methods. Scope alignment is critical to determining who owns connections to dissimilar materials, especially in hybrid structural solutions. Attachment to wood for concrete or steel elements is paramount in understanding the design responsibility and installation.

MEP

MEP should be locked in as soon as possible to reduce on-site install time. Understanding the nuances of mass timber, its sequence of erection and integration of MEP system penetrations, openings and distribution are critical to fabrication.

Laydown Areas

Laydown areas should be established for the materials. If material is being shipped from overseas, it might be necessary to provide space for shipping containers, as well.

Weather Concerns

Weather concerns come into play due to potential moisture risks. Specs are written such that materials should avoid directly touching the ground. Timber is wrapped before leaving the manufacturer, but what exactly is wrapped differs by manufacturer, i.e. individual beams versus groups of beams. Crews must be in the know.

Metal Shards

Metal grinding shards from nearby work on-site can land on wood and damage its appearance and integrity.

Fire Performance

Questions about fire performance often come from the uninitiated, but mass timber performs well here. Multiple fire performance tests conducted at the ATF Fire Research Laboratory confirmed that mass timber structures meet fire resistance requirements in the International Building Code. Exposed mass timber chars on the outside and forms a layer to shield the interior. When codes require that timber be protected with gypsum wall board, it was found to achieve nearly damage-free performance.

Insurance

The insurance industry is still catching up and typically still treats mass timber structures like regular wood frame houses. Premiums are higher on builder’s risk.

Installation

Installation is different from that of other materials, with such questions as how many times screws can be backed out, what to do if a bolt head snaps, or what happens if combustible materials must be covered.

This is part 3 in a series where DPR experts look at ways to build resiliency into commercial spaces as we move through the COVID pandemic and beyond. Part 1 looked at improvements that can be made to existing spaces. Part 2 discussed ways to spread out individuals within a workforce. This segment discusses technology for remote asset management and the final installment will cover planning for healthier future spaces.

Physical distancing will mean fewer workers in offices. With reduced staff levels in a given workplace, some of the things taken for granted in offices will need to change. For example, workers are used to having on-site IT help. On any given day, that may no longer be the case and remote options will be the first course of treatment when the “blue screen of death” appears.

For facility managers, the need for remote monitoring of building systems is going to be equally important. Operations dashboards that may have seemed like luxury items may get another look as essential software tools. With many projects already using robust virtual design and construction (VDC) programs, it’s not a big jump to reposition digital models for remote asset management.

“This pandemic has shown that, in buildings, the safety of teams, occupants and visitors will always be the top priority,” said Aaron Peterson, leader of VueOps, a strategic partner of DPR Construction that aims to put building operations information at customers’ fingertips. “More than ever, it is the responsibility of facility management, engineers and operators to take action toward implementing the right prevention and containment strategies.”

As it stands, research shows that facility engineers spend 50% of their time simply searching facility data. The faster an issue can be identified and addressed or prevented, the less disruption to operations. Doing so remotely, though, is going to become more common.

“Reduced workforces, remote work and limited staff proximity on-site just underscores the need for integrated data tools that can enhance and increase facility uptime, prevent downtime, improve workflow and eliminate pain points,” Peterson said. “This will be the ‘new normal.’ Much like restaurants will be shy to remove a revenue stream like takeout even after reopening, why would a facility manager want to pivot back to a monitoring approach that has increased risks?”

This is Part 4 in a series where DPR experts look at ways to build resiliency into commercial spaces as we move through the COVID pandemic and beyond. Part 1 looked at improvements that can be made to existing spaces. Part 2 and Part 3 examined ways to spread out individuals within a workforce and technology for remote asset management, respectively. This final segment discusses planning for healthier future spaces.

At some point, the pandemic will subside, the economy will recover and true, long-term planning will begin. When it does, it is likely that the momentum that was building behind healthy buildings and systems like WELL Certification will become mainstream.

The advantages of healthy workplaces have been highlighted from business researchers to innovation consultants to the medical community. Now, as many firms that are bringing workers back put measures including temperature checks into place, employees will be scrutinizing how well their offices support their health.

“We believe in the benefits of WELL from a standpoint of increasing productivity, lowering absenteeism and more,” said Matt Murphy, DPR Construction’s core markets leader. “The primary reason we’ve built our new offices to WELL standards, though, is because of the tangible benefits to the health of our employees.”

Including the 1918 flu pandemic, the COVID-19 pandemic is the second worldwide event of this scale in 100 years. For anyone aiming to build higher performing buildings with a lifespan of 50-100 years, it’s worth considering that pandemics have more in common with earthquakes than hurricanes: they’re less frequent, but when they happen, it’s a widespread disruption.

“In places where earthquakes are common, we’ve taken a lot of measures to ensure the resiliency of the built environment,” Murphy said. “Shouldn’t we do the same with health and doing things to minimize disruption should another pandemic occur within our lifetimes?”

Planning for a truly healthy workspace, though, isn’t something to do after design has taken place. Buildings and workplaces with the best results and returns from green building strategies are the ones that started with integrated approaches from the start, setting high performance as goals and letting those goals shape the design and construction process. Achieving the same sort of results with WELL Certification takes a similar approach.

“Our customers were already facing high bottom line expenses for health insurance and wellness programs,” Murphy said. “While there are cultural factors that affect employee behaviors, we’re finding a whole-building approach to wellness and health can influence culture. Putting measures in for physical distancing will be important, but so will building systems and materials that hinder spread of disease. Designs that help with circulation and provide employees with comfortable spaces to have physical distance while collaborating and feeling productive make a difference, too.”

Ultimately, putting all these strategies together should lower any given business’ exposure to pandemics or other disruptions.

“Businesses need to know their ability to operate can move forward. Employees want the peace of mind that their work and lives won’t be disrupted. Every business is connected to supply chains and customers and the larger economy,” Murphy said. “Any office that moves to make its own operations resilient makes our entire economy more resilient.”

Houston’s largest hotel, Hilton Americas, first opened its doors in 2003 to host hundreds of sports fans for Super Bowl XXXVIII. Sixteen years later, DPR Construction partnered with Hilton, Houston First and Gensler to undertake a major renovation of this award-winning AAA 4-Diamond property in the heart of downtown. The renovation includes significant demolition, build back and upgrades to all 1,200 guestrooms and corridors, alcoves, landings and elevator lobbies on all 17 guestroom floors.

Phase 1 got under way in June 2019, with the first 600 guest rooms completed by December. The project then paused to allow for planned downtown conferences—some in the adjacent George R. Brown Convention Center—that included events for large tech firms and big businesses. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, many of these conferences were cancelled and DPR was asked to remobilize earlier than planned to complete Phase 2—the remaining 600 guest rooms.

“Working in an active hotel in the middle of downtown is already challenging. Add in a global pandemic, and the challenges only increase,” says Houston Business Unit Leader, Nick Abay.

DPR worked closely with Hilton and Houston First to develop a comprehensive COVID-19 Emergency Response/Mitigation Plan, that includes:

• A rigorous sign-in/health screening process with a sophisticated QR Code system, unique electronic badging, bilingual staff, infrared thermometer scans and color-coded wrist bands that alternate each day.
• A second sign-in/screening location at the one and only entry/egress into the building as a second COVID-19 stage gate.
• The implementation of four (4) separate shifts to manage the more than 250 people who are on-site during an average workday.
• Dedicated freight elevators, with delivery access and debris removal scheduled at specified times to manage the limited loading dock space available.
• Additional temporary restrooms and touchless handwashing stations.

These steps are part of a set of comprehensive EHS protocols that, when properly planned and executed, demonstrate that construction can continue to move forward without compromising the safety of employees or the community.

To allow for the Centers for Disease Control’s recommended six feet of social distancing, DPR also worked with Hilton to identify a larger office space within the hotel. The larger area allows DPR staff and other project stakeholders to carry out administrative functions and hold daily meetings while maintaining a safe physical distance.

These measures complement the safety protocols being developed by Hilton to protect its staff and guests. From seals placed on guestroom doors after cleaning, showing that no one has since accessed the room, to contactless check-in and extra cleaning of high touch areas, the industry is preparing for a necessary new travel experience.

Construction continues as the hotel still hosts guests, most of whom are part of the COVID-19 response: troops from the Texas National Guard, who are providing support to the Houston Food Bank, along with healthcare workers providing front-line support to patients in the Greater Houston Area.

The 509,289-sq.ft. project is a careful balance between construction and hotel operations. With continued room occupancy, work is being completed in blocks of 11 guestrooms—up to 298 rooms out of order or under construction at any one time.

“Using multiple scheduling tools, including a ‘Room Work Status board’ that displays the current status of each individual room as it progresses through the 28-day renovation cycle, our team is able to closely track progress and strive for guest rooms with zero defects,” said Ryan Schoeneberg, DPR superintendent. “With a total of 1,200 individual punch lists spanning 17 floors, this is critical to minimize rework and maintain our aggressive schedule.”

This high-profile project at Hilton Americas continues to excel in challenging conditions. Chris Gehring, Senior Project Manager, summarizes the experience with a nod to company culture. “DPR is proud to support Hilton, Houston First and our State and local front-line workers on this major renovation of a Houston icon.”

Last fall, DPR Construction teamed up with McMillan Pazdan Smith Architecture and Greenville Women Giving to deliver a community initiative project at a residential foster care facility in Greenville, SC. The project involved a major renovation and expansion of two bathrooms at Smith House, a residential facility that is run by Pendleton Place, a DPR- and DPR Foundation-supported community partner. The facility provides a long-term home for 10 girls aged 12-21 who have experienced abuse or neglect. Now, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, Smith House residents are benefiting from the project.

In addition to providing shelter and basic needs like food and clothing, Smith House provides residents with counseling services, structured educational support, life skills training, financial literacy classes, and other services designed to help them successfully transition out of foster care when they turn 18. On average, 25 young women live at Smith House each year; over 200 teens have been sheltered there over the past five years.

Smith House is located within a mile of DPR’s Greenville office. So, when Pendleton Place reached out for help with the project, DPR was eager to help a neighbor and strengthen an already great relationship with the nonprofit, according to Tony Johnson who acted as DPR’s leader for the project.

“Pendleton Place approached us in 2019 after they had been awarded a grant from Greenville Women Giving to renovate the Smith House bathrooms,” Johnson said. “At DPR we take pride in being integral to our community. Smith House is part of the community where we work, so it really felt good to be able to help with this.”

DPR’s existing relationships with McMillan Pazdan Smith Architecture, which donated its time pro bono, and with Greenville Women Giving, which provided approximately $83,000 in grant funds, were instrumental to the project’s success. In alignment with its community initiative goal of making facility improvements that enable community organizations to maximize their impact, DPR donated interior furnishings and volunteered about 120 hours performing demolition, drywall and rough carpentry work, among other things.

Construction of the project prompted Smith House residents and counselors to relocate for more than four weeks to a local hotel. Although the project schedule was extended when DPR self-perform craftworkers encountered several unexpected conditions in the house, Johnson pointed out that they still managed to finish the job in time for the residents to move back in just before Thanksgiving of last year.

The project scope included transforming two existing bathrooms and adding a critically needed second shower to Smith House – a major upgrade that has improved the daily lives and morning routines of house residents. In its final report on the project, Pendleton Place noted: “Not only do our Smith House residents benefit daily simply by having a second shower, but both spaces are now more functional and provide additional space and storage. The updated décor and the attention to detail in the design make these bathrooms a beautiful space that will be enjoyed by many in the years to come.”

As the COVID-19 pandemic emerged this spring, DPR’s upgrades took on more importance for Smith House residents. “Smith House has stepped up during the crisis to take in even more teenagers than usual, resulting in 100% occupancy of all foster care beds. Having the additional shower, storage, and updated look and feel is even more important now, making life in quarantine much less stressful,” shared Pendleton Place Executive Director Jed Dews.

Dews added that the partnership with DPR has had a major impact on the success of the program over the past three years: “Our partnership with DPR goes beyond a simple service project or an annual financial sponsorship,” he commented. “We consider the DPR team to be a part of the Pendleton Place family, and their contributions to our Board Leadership, campus facilities and long-term community impact are significant. The renovation of our foster care cottage bathrooms is a perfect example of meaningful collaboration in action, and the incredible results will touch the daily lives of hundreds of South Carolina’s most vulnerable children.”

Virtual Design and Construction (VDC) processes deliver value and foster predictable outcomes on almost every project that DPR executes. These processes are especially valuable when applied to the extremely complex and interconnected mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) systems.

In the latest installment of “If These Walls Could Talk…,” a few of DPR’s MEP professionals discuss how VDC processes allow them to recognize and mitigate constructability issues in the virtual world so they don’t materialize in the real one.

The AEC industry can tend to focus on design and construction, but what happens at turnover has consequences for the remainder of a building’s decades-long life. Beyond the physical build, the data requirements for successful and effective operations is critical to run facilities and teams. If not prioritized, the information may be lost, or it will cost more to recover it. Turnover is more than just a transfer of information, and to do it successfully, the process starts much earlier than close out.

There has been a fundamental shift to help teams extract valuable facilities management data from design and construction and turn it into building intelligence. By utilizing Virtual Design and Construction (VDC) techniques, teams can execute strategies to keep a building’s dataset accurate to streamline facility management (FM) processes, improve operational workflows, increase efficiency, and prevent downtime.

Putting VDC to use beyond the construction site allows those responsible for maintaining the building to quickly locate themselves, see a digital view of what the final and actual design is for the space and quickly handle issues, ideally with the help of mobile software platforms.

Improving Understanding

A robust VDC program through the project lifecycle lets teams focus on critical assets that affect the lifecycle of the build, including architectural and mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) systems. This strategy improves the understanding of operational needs by project teams. It identifies scope for information requirements, and improves the process for authoring, verifying, and transferring the information into your current systems – all while considering the workflows of design and construction stakeholders.

Facility managers will request maintenance manuals, warranties, parent/child relationships of equipment and more.

“The power of seeing the details of proposed work immediately, when you need it, solves for many challenges that teams on the frontlines face,” said Adam Rendek, BIM/ Engagement Manager, VueOps, one of DPR Construction’s strategic partners. “Quick, intuitive and comprehensive communication solves the ‘I need this information right now’ request that jobsites face daily.”

VueOps provides expertise in BIM-FM through a software as a service (SaaS) to help teams extract valuable facilities management data from design and construction and turn it into building intelligence.

To ensure the most benefit to operations, building owners and teams should start well before substantial completion of the build to identify and discuss clear goals for operation. Taking the data in context, teams can be organized to help maintain the continuity that is relevant to operations.

But no matter where businesses are in the design and construction process, planning and executing strategies to keep a building’s dataset accurate will directly influence cost savings and operational efficiency in the long run. It can also be done at any stage.

Moving from VDC to VueOps

With VueOps, a team of subject matter experts support owners, facility managers and key stakeholders on the design and construction journey. The goal of the effort is to improve overall data quality of the models, drawings, and documents.

VueOps connects projects documents, asset data, models, and spaces to help answer the time critical questions of “what” (assets), “where” (space, floor), and “how” (how to access and tools required.)

By leveraging VDC – which most customers are already paying for as part of construction services – with an engaged partner like VueOps, owners have the potential to get more value for their VDC dollars and ensure that critical information from design and construction is prioritized and delivered in a way they can use from day one.

When it comes to a virtual representation of the build, DPR Construction has been pushing the envelope on this for years. In Integrating Project Delivery by Martin Fischer, Howard W. Ashcaft, and DPR’s Dean Reed and Atul Khanzode, the authors highlight how buildings have become more technically complex, the regulations that need to be considered more multifaceted, and the social and business expectations and pressures more intense.

The increased technical complexity and the multifaceted regulatory constraints require the inclusion of experts that understand the specific technical systems to project teams. This increased specialization has led to fragmented project delivery, in part because the project management tools used on many projects are good at dividing the work up into chucks but less good at making sure the everyone’s work fits together. The increased business and social pressures on building performance, however, demand a strategy to overcome this fragmentation, a strategy to integrate project teams and their work. To overcome this, the project team becomes a virtual enterprise. People stop working in silos and exchange information frequently instead of periodically.

“I think everyone knows the cost of operating Buildings far exceeds the cost it took to build them,” says Hannu Lindberg, VDC leader at DPR. “The key to getting maximum value for the capital investment is streamlining the handover process from construction to operations. Managing daily operations by using BIM for FM assets created during construction provides incredible insights of the building function and its systems, unlocking the initial capital investments to be used for building operations and maintenance.”

“When my father didn’t have my hand, he had my back.” - Linda Poindexter

This year for Father’s Day, we want to honor the fathers/father figures who have helped us become the people we are today. The wisdom they provide guides us throughout our lives. We asked some of our employees who are “kids” of DPR dads, “What is one thing you’ve learned from your father/father figure?”

We received incredible responses demonstrating the impact fathers have on shaping our employees--not only to become better builders, but to be people who respect the individual and change the world.

International airline EVA Airways Corporation has a new office campus in El Segundo, California, which reached final completion in May. As one of the larger design-build projects in the region, the campus encompasses two 5-story buildings totaling 150,000 sq. ft. wrapping around a 5-story above ground parking structure. It all sits atop a once vacant site, completing an area in the business-friendly city that has seen major redevelopment in the last decade.

“This is a project for a good group of end-users, providing them with a new North American headquarters and the ability to create more dynamic working environments for many other local businesses,” said Brent Bunting, who serves as the project executive.

As the general contractor, DPR Construction leveraged self-perform work (SPW) and 3D modeling expertise to maintain a high level of collaboration between EVA Air and its design partners, as well as keeping the project on schedule and within budget. Collaboration allowed for smooth sailing on a tight site footprint, ensuring deliveries, cranes erecting portions of the work, excavations, concrete pump trucks and more to keep the project flowing.

Creating Space for All

The campus goes beyond a typical office park, featuring “office condos” available for sale to small businesses that may otherwise not be able to own their own space. DPR worked in collaboration with kmd Architects, EVA Air, Messori Development and CBRE to bring this focus on designing for multi-tenant functionality to life, giving rise to the building’s unique exterior and circulation. Each “condo” includes its own private balcony or patio, and with a variety of materials and exterior articulation, the building skin design is different from any other project DPR has built in the region.

DPR’s team navigated through a few unique circumstances that included custom weathered metal finishes, complex window and door design, and incorporating a variety of materials on the exterior like plaster and a rainscreen system with weathered metal and phenolic panels. Additionally, the parking structure’s 2nd and 5^th floors are connected to the office buildings’ 2^nd and 4^th floors via four skybridges that improve accessibility for occupants. The connectivity between the structures added to the challenges with the site and skin coordination.

Flexibility though SPW and Virtual Modeling Expertise

Leveraging DPR’s sizable SPW team on the concrete parking structure helped minimize the impact of several weeks of unprecedented rain for the region, with onsite craftsmen working to prep for, clean up and mitigate the effects of the weather. SPW teams also performed other specialty and smaller scopes of work, such as miscellaneous carpentry, fire stopping and lobby ceilings, in addition to providing valuable design input throughout the preconstruction phase.

When a major design decision needed to be made, DPR worked closely with EVA Air to evaluate costs and weigh the benefits of each decision. An example of this was the decision between a cast-in-place concrete structure versus a structural steel structure. A concrete structure can provide a shorter overall height of building due to the depth of beams in a steel structure, and concrete can provide an attractive ceiling finish if left exposed. However, a concrete structure will require additional columns and walls within the footprint that steel structures can avoid with longer allowable spans. Ultimately, the openness of the spaces was a definable project feature for EVA Air, and so the decision to proceed with steel was ultimately made. DPR’s ability to demonstrate the end conditions through 3D modeling was essential to the ultimate decision to adjust the design, while simultaneously mitigating what would be major impacts to the design schedule.

As a result, DPR was able to collaborate with its design-build partners to work in constructability and value analysis into the design to ensure the project moved forward expeditiously.

Unprecedented times call for creative measures as DPR Construction teams across the country restructured their Community Initiatives (CI) as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Although community service looks a little different these days, DPR’s ongoing commitment to building possibilities for the under-resourced remains consistent when shifting youth education programming from in-person to virtual. 

Discussing Opportunities for Homeless Youth in Seattle

In March, DPR’s Seattle office hosted an online educational event for students enrolled in YouthCare's YouthBuild program. YouthCare offers a wide range of services to support Seattle's homeless youth, while also offering employment training and educational opportunities, such as the YouthBuild pre-apprenticeship program. YouthBuild allows students to explore the various career options available within the construction industry and gave DPR leaders the chance to offer guidance as they answered student questions about job responsibilities and career paths.

In a virtual format, DPR volunteers from a variety of professions, including project engineering, estimating, and field supervision, shared career advice and hosted a presentation about DPR and general contracting, followed by a Q&A with the students.

"YouthBuild works tirelessly to empower students through educational guidance and technical skill development. We hope the wide range of careers and opportunities available with or without a four-year degree inspires the YouthCare students to pursue construction,” said Brianna Lance, DPR’s event panelist.

Sacramento Students Explore Careers in Construction

In April, the DPR’s Sacramento office hosted a “Careers in Construction” webinar for students from Mira Loma and Natomas High Schools involved with local organization Improve Your Tomorrow (IYT). IYT serves young men of color and enrolls students as early as 7th grade, with the option of remaining in the program up until their college graduation.

This webinar gave DPR's group of panelists the opportunity to share their own professional development journeys with the students, answering any questions they may have. To showcase the breadth of career options within the construction industry, each panelist specialized in different jobsite roles and responsibilities.

IYT’s Event Manager, Alina Sanchez, said, “The students had an eye-opening experience regarding the different avenues one can take in the construction industry, and loved learning about the DPR team’s career journeys.”

DPR Teaches 3D Modeling to South Florida Youth

In May, DPR gave the students of The Milagro Center a crash course in 3D modeling software with a “SketchUp Training” webinar. The Milagro Center is a nonprofit organization that strives to ensure the social and academic success of underserved children and teens ages K-12 in the Delray Beach community.

DPR’s Zach Thompson, who acts as one of the company’s Virtual Design and Construction (VDC) leaders, joined other DPR volunteers to lead the virtual workshop on 3D modeling. Thompson helped students download the free version of the SketchUp software, taught a beginner tutorial on how to use the program, and offered technical support throughout the remote event.

The webinar’s facilitators helped open a up a wide range of learning possibilities for The Milagro Center’s students, as this was the first time they had been exposed to a software with SketchUp’s capabilities.

Ft. Lauderdale Teens Take a Virtual Jobsite Tour

DPR Ft. Lauderdale hosted a virtual “Career Exploration” event in April for middle school students enrolled with HANDY, a local organization that supports disadvantaged youth. HANDY offers an array of customized educational, personal development and economic self-sufficiency programs for youth and adults, ages 9-25.

During the webinar, DPR’s hosts shared their day-to-day job responsibilities, details about the construction industry, and answered questions regarding DPR’s community outreach and its involvement with healthcare projects during the COVID-19 crisis. One of the hosts was working remotely from a South Beach jobsite trailer, giving HANDY’s students the opportunity to go on a “live” tour of the project site.

Lina Nageondelestang, DPR’s event organizer, said: “The students enjoyed catching a glimpse of a jobsite, which under normal circumstances they would not have been able to, due to the project’s location.” Nageondelestang shared that DPR will continue to host more virtual initiatives with HANDY in the future to continue inspiring the next generation of builders.

“It’s a beautiful building to look at,” DPR Construction’s Kate Nice said of William & Mary’s new West Utility Plant, a project for which she served as senior project engineer. “Beauty” and “utility plant” don’t often go together, but the design by RMF Engineering and architect Lord Aeck Sargent makes it possible.

The plant’s design documents note that the glass-and-masonry building “creates a display case like experience for automotive and pedestrian traffic that filters through campus” that lets the campus community see the complex systems inside while also managing to blend in with the entire campus aesthetic.

For DPR to bring vision to life, though, took considerable planning, a robust virtual design and construction (VDC) program, prefabrication, and skillful work in the field – especially solutions developed by DPR’s self-perform work corps. The result: a building that students have already dubbed “the Mario building,” an allusion to the famous video game plumber and the colorful pipes that make up his world. As students return to campus this fall, it will be hard to miss.

Going Virtual

Situated nearly in the center of the campus and adjacent to active roadways and sidewalks, the utility plant site was smaller than an acre but would require a dozen trades and significant amounts of materials.

“It was a very complex mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) system,” Nice said. “We really had to coordinate schedule, delivery of materials and more.”

Those needs underscored the need for a VDC program geared to making sure execution was seamless.

“VDC tools meant we were able to do a lot of clash detection early and update plans accordingly,” Nice said. “That also meant nearly every piece of pipe and ductwork could be prefabricated offsite. Even the building pad work was made possible through our laser scanning team.”

Having such a robust digital model meant that W&M got a head start with operations and asset management, which includes using DPR’s strategic partner VueOps.

“The facility managers can manage this building on VueOps down to individual valves if they choose to,” Nice said.

Getting Practical

While VDC and prefabrication allowed work to happen offsite, making it happen on-site fulfilled what was envisioned in planning. One key aspect was keeping the campus community safe.

“We could shut down vehicle traffic adjacent to the site, but not pedestrian traffic,” Nice said. “Lots of students would walk by the site, heads down looking at their phones. We ended up painting safety signage on the ground to make sure they knew what was happening off their screens and earbuds.”

Behind the site fence, the trades – including a significant number of DPR self-perform craft workers – installed more than 5,000 ft. of underground heating hot water and chilled water infrastructure to create a secondary underground piping loop which tied into six existing buildings. Among the crews’ accomplishments was finding a solution to prefabricate cold form metal framing for metal wall sections that included insulation and other elements. Doing so shrank a six-week portion of work down to a week and required fewer people on the site’s tight site footprint.

In the end, the 12,000-sq.-ft. project was completed with zero defects.

“It’s what we love to do,” Nice said. “This was a very complex project that required us to leverage our technical building ability and our tools like VDC, self-perform and prefabrication. That it’s become so visible on campus is gratifying for the entire team.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has left few industries or individuals untouched. Construction companies have reacted by adapting workflows to continue to deliver projects for their clients. From pre-screening all who enter to requiring masks and social distancing once on-site, the jobsite of today looks much different than it did a mere six months ago. Many companies, including DPR Construction, are leveraging virtual design and construction (VDC) methods to navigate workflow constraints resulting from disruptions.

“Site logistics and visual planning have taken on even more critical roles,” said Hannu Lindberg, national VDC leader at DPR. “With the ongoing necessity to maintain a healthy distance from other team members, an extra layer of planning has become vital to ensure predictable outcomes on schedule.”

As ever, the devil is in the details. Any successful construction project is built on layers of well thought out planning for every scope of work. Leveraging data from the model to inform workflow planning inevitably leads to other adjustments in work methods to keep projects going.

Building Projects in the Cloud

In any circumstance, teams employ virtual models to solve problems before moving into the field, as well as to respond to changes that arise once work has begun. Using the model to preplan allows more efficient work planning and reduces re-work. While important in any situation, it is critical when managing limited crew sizes such as the ones seen on jobsites today.

VDC, by nature, is extremely compatible with a remote working environment. Across the country, DPR teams are virtually building projects using cloud-based solutions like BIM Track and Autodesk BIM 360 in conjunction with web platforms like StructionSite to seamlessly collaborate, share ideas and create content to navigate constraints posed by the pandemic.

One large healthcare project in Southern California successfully transitioned from on-site co-location to remote meetings during preconstruction and design as a result of high engagement and reliance on the VDC process. By leveraging an Integrated Project Delivery approach, the project team can complete design and coordination simultaneously, with trades working alongside design partners in the model to problem solve in real-time. The process has been so efficient that the project received California’s Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD) approval on first review, where typically, multiple rounds of review are needed to solve issues flagged. As the team moves into construction, VDC will continue to play a heavy role for as-built verification, among other needs.

Planning for Limited Exposure

While defining locations isn’t a new concept, creating specified work zones is critical in a heightened environment to maximize efficiency while maintaining distance.

“Needs related to site logistics; ingress, egress and wayfinding; and the deployment and use of different work zones can be better addressed by using data obtained from the model,” said Lindberg. “With this data serving as real-time feedback, it’s possible to adapt to changing field conditions and meet new environmental, health and safety requirements while still maintaining productivity.”

Having those needs top of mind has been key to keeping one DPR project on track: an office tower being constructed in the booming downtown of Austin, Texas. The 35-story, 590-ft. tall high-rise has a total area of more than 1,500,000 sq. ft. and includes 1,390 parking stalls in both above and below-grade parking. It’s the largest vertical high-rise concrete structure that DPR has ever built and its largest self-perform (SPW) concrete project to date—thereby necessitating better planning to meet increased distancing protocols. Prefabricated components include restroom plumbing assemblies and the iconic, sail-inspired, unitized curtainwall system.

Luckily, a VDC-enabled workforce has incorporated a high level of building information modeling into nearly every aspect of the project, from the detailed model used to coordinate and construct the exterior curtainwall, to DPR’s best-in-class SPW concrete team using VDC to optimize planning and sequencing.

“From top to bottom, the team has embraced VDC tools on every aspect of the work,” said DPR Central VDC leader, Jacob Skrobarczyk. “We are intentionally focused on using VDC for self-perform concrete to improve communication, plan production and ensure we hit our targets while keeping our craft safe.”

“The more planning and prefab we can do the less exposure our teams have in the field. As we transition from the structure to the skin to the interiors, clear communication on where and when each team is working in an area is more important than ever,” Skrobarczyk added.

One thing is certain: more real-time data flowing into and out of the model allows teams to execute with a greater level of certainty. Above and beyond delivering projects that are technically sound and built right for customers, these methods also ensure teams do right by their people in the field too.

In late May, DPR marked the steel topping out for the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) Administrative Wing Expansion project in Manassas, VA. The $22M addition includes an open office plan, conference rooms, break areas, private offices, data center, an exterior canopy, and loading dock.

Almost 6 months since construction began in November 2019, the topping out marks an important milestone for the project. The new structure, totaling 35,000 sq. ft., connects to the west side of the existing building, allowing ATCC to house all its employees under one roof for companywide collaboration.

The milestone occurred during Virginia’s COVID-19 “stay-at-home” order, so the team had to take extra measures to keep people safe and the project on track. Tyler Atkins, who serves as DPR’s project manager, said that the jobsite crew was reduced to enforce physical distancing guidelines and that DPR required that only craft workers directly involved with the project’s critical path were on site to continue with construction.

“We limited our crew to only having our steel subcontractor onsite for about one month at the beginning of the pandemic,” shared Atkins. “This resulted in a 95% completion of the steel, just four weeks before the final topping out, positioning us ahead of schedule.”

Atkins shared how proud he is to work with a client on the cutting edge of cell research and development.

“ATCC cultivates primary and stem cells, which is not only fascinating, but also their research could be a catalyst to finding cures for various diseases and illnesses, such as COVID-19. It is an honor to work with a client who is making a positive difference in the world,” said Atkins.

ATCC’s administration wing is expected to be completed in March of 2021.

DPR Construction used prefabricated modules from Digital Building Components to build temporary bypass hallways to minimize the impact of construction at a major hospital in the Phoenix area. The expansion project will add approximately 580,000 sq. ft. to the existing hospital building, with construction to be completed adjacent to the current Emergency Department (ED).

“We needed to perform major construction work while the busy emergency department remained functional,” said DPR project manager Mike Cummings. “Patients and staff needed access to the hospital, but the building expansion couldn’t be completed without moving the entrances.”

The enclosed walkways routed pedestrian traffic to the hospital’s entrances, allowing patients to access critical care services while reducing disruptions. One hallway provides public access to the ED while the other provides ambulance and helipad personnel access.

With a combined length of approximately 700 ft. and interior dimensions of 8 ft. x 8 ft., each hallway was designed to ensure the comfort and safety of those who use them throughout the two and half years of the construction project. The prefabricated hallways meet stringent code requirements including a two-hour fire-resistance rating in the case of an emergency.

Several building methods were considered for the hallways. Cummings said the project team looked at traditional onsite construction, onsite fabrication, and offsite fabrication. All three options had similar costs, so the project team looked more closely at other factors: safety, on-time delivery, and impact to the hospital staff and patients.

The project team chose offsite prefabrication with components manufactured by Digital Building Components to best meet customer needs. Specifically, this method was projected to reduce the overall schedule by an estimated three weeks. The onsite team could pour concrete foundations to support the module components while the hallway sections – fitted with mechanical, electrical, and HVAC elements – were built in the fabrication shop.

“It took a lot of detailed and upfront coordination with our trade partners, but we were able to cut the installation time in half from what was anticipated for a traditional ‘stick-built’ system,” said Cummings. “This meant less disruption to patients and hospital operations.”

He notes that prefabrication wasn’t used for the entire passageway. The project team analyzed existing conditions and determined that a traditional construction method was more appropriate at the ends of the hallways. Canopies at the connections to the building meant cranes couldn’t drop the modules into place, so those sections were built conventionally. “We used prefabrication where it made the most sense and increased our productivity,” explained Cummings.

The productivity during installation far exceeded expectations and showed off the benefits to building some components offsite. Digital Building installed roughly 12 units a day and completed 47 in four days totaling roughly 520 linear feet with a crew of four. In the end, using prefabrication sped up completion of the temporary hallways by about five weeks and reduced onsite labor by approximately 2400 worker hours.

“We had been considering prefabricating other elements on the hospital too,” said Cummings. “After the successful hallway installation, the value was clear. We received customer approval to move forward with prefabricating the exterior wall panels.”

Inova Loudoun Hospital’s (ILH) Patient Tower in Loudoun County, Virginia, DPR Construction's largest healthcare project of its kind in the region, reached completion, wrapping up the final phase of ILH's $300 million master plan to expand the hospital’s facilities and services. Along the way, close collaboration among partners, leveraging data and careful planning were key components driving quality outcomes.

The Tower takes center stage as the new front-entrance of the hospital and spans a total of 382,000-sq-ft. DPR’s team constructed the seven-story Patient Tower in two years, with features including a dramatic main lobby, public circulation and waiting space, a new gift shop, provisions for a future rooftop helipad, a new pedestrian bridge linking the parking garage to the new tower, and state-of-the-art patient care capabilities to support expecting mothers, babies and in-patient needs.

“ILH put careful planning and consideration into the needs of the community in order to provide families with access to high quality medical care without having to leave Loudoun County,” said DPR Senior Project Manager Kimberly Shumaker.

The Patient Tower was ILH’s response to provide the Loudoun County community, one of the fastest growing counties in the United States, with private rooms and high-tech amenities. Because of this project, the hospital now has an expanded Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) with enhanced capabilities. The ILH Patient Tower is built to accommodate a total of 228 beds, including 24 NICU beds; 12 labor and delivery rooms; 5 C-section ORs; 10 prep and recovery rooms; 96 acuity adaptable beds allowing for care of postpartum, surgical and progressive care patients.

To better understand Inova’s project needs, DPR referred to its experience working together on a past project, the Inova Ashburn HealthPlex. “The HealthPlex served as a stepping stone for our team and allowed us to get closer and understand Inova’s key priorities,” Shumaker said.

With their robust planning, DPR committed to respecting the hospital’s operations while it remained open through construction. This approach was made possible due to using data management systems and other tracking tools. Data visualization tools, such as Power BI, allowed their project team to forecast trends and transform data into actionable items on the jobsite.

DPR’s initial challenge was finding a solution for foundation installation after discovering during precon the jobsite was predominantly covered in diabase rock. ”This extremely dense diabase rock was just two feet under the topsoil, creating a large undertaking for the team. Blasting was required and we knew it had to be done with no disruption to the existing facility whatsoever,” said Shumaker.

Although blasting with dynamite occurred for almost 90% of the foundational work over the course of 12 weeks, normal campus operations were never interrupted.

Shumaker noted: “Each blast took one minute after a full day of preparation and conducting safety protocols. They even became an attraction that many spectators looked forward to, enticing visitors, patients and staff alike to safely observe.”

Shumaker cites the partnership forged between DPR and Inova Loudoun early in the project as a key to success. The President of Inova Loudoun Hospital, Deborah Addo, and Shumaker worked together frequently, driven by their passion for the community they reside in, both having personal ties to the hospital and Loudoun.

“The success of the project is a testament to Deborah’s engagement, which continuously motivated our team to meet every challenge head on,” Shumaker said.

In mid-April, the ILH team began the multi-phase move into their new home two weeks early in light of COVID-19. The DPR team maintained a presence onsite for 36-hours straight during the move-in with key subcontractors to mitigate any arising issues as patients were being transferred. The hospital’s decision to move its labor and delivery unit early to the DPR-built new patient tower was done so to increase the number of beds available in the existing hospital for COVID-19 treatment and recovery.